Surfing Confederation is at risk of losing BRL 3 million from lotteries

Brazilian surfing has R$ 3 million tied up. The resource comes from sports lotteries for the year 2021 and has not yet been used. If the money remains in the balance until March 2022, it will no longer be of the modality.

The amount appears in the budget of the COB (Brazilian Olympic Committee) to be transferred to the Brazilian Surf Confederation (CBSurf), but the entity cannot receive it because it lacks certificates 18 and 18A issued by the Special Secretariat for Sport.

This document proves that an institution fits the text of the Pelé Law and, therefore, can receive public money.

Currently, CBSurf is in an irregular situation because it has not presented its accounts for the year 2020 to the Department of Sport.

The accounts have the favorable opinion of the fiscal council of the confederation itself. However, they need to be approved at a general meeting, a rite that has not even been called yet amidst the power struggle in surfing.

The state federations and the athletes’ committee participate in the assembly, with voting power.

Sought, the current administration explained that what prevents the holding of the general meeting today is an impasse (including with consequences in the courts) on this commission.

The Pelé Law establishes that the athletes’ committee must be composed of a number of members equivalent to one third of the electoral college of each sports confederation — in the case of surfing, there would be eight athletes.

However, a court ruling this year states that the CBSurf athletes committee should have six members, not eight.

The entity claims that it had to comply with the court’s opinion, which left it at odds with the requirement of the Pelé Law, preventing the convening of the meeting — meanwhile, without approving its accounts, it cannot receive public money, such as lottery funds.

For confederations without 18 and 18A certificates, the COB offers an alternative: the committee itself can directly implement these resources, as long as the entities submit exclusively sporting projects to it, for example, championships or training seasons abroad — it is a way of ensure that modalities are not frozen by institutional problems.

Questioned, CBSurf stated that it presented 12 projects for the year 2021 and managed to benefit from R$ 1.4 million. As the transfer of lotteries provides for BRL 4.4 million for surfing, there are still around BRL 3 million of federal funds that have not been used.

The COB explained that the entity has until March 2022 to present projects that use the budget referring to this year’s budget. What is not used is left to the committee.

CBSurf is still trying to regularize its certificate in order to be able to receive the funds directly, but it is difficult for that to happen this year, as the current committee of athletes (with six members) has a mandate until December 31st. An election has already been called to choose the next commission, now with eight athletes.

“This year there is no more possibility. With this election taking place, day one [de janeiro] on [quando a próxima comissão assume] we can now call an assembly [para aprovar as contas]. And then the Secretariat can accept it or not”, replied Adalvo Arogolo, president of CBSurf since 2010.

The decision that determined the number of six members for the athletes’ commission refers to a lawsuit brought by Argolo’s opponents, who are contesting his last election, in December 2020.

However, CBSurf has not had the 18 and 18A certificates from the Department of Sport for over a year.

The current hurdle is already the third hurdle the confederation has faced in trying to renew its document since June 2020, when the last valid version expired.

At that time, the certificate was not renewed (the entities need to update it annually) because the entity’s new statute had not been registered at the notary’s office — and the previous one, registered, was in disagreement with the Pelé Law.

When it managed to rectify this situation, on December 7, 2020, CBSurf had another problem.

At that time, the organization was going through a turbulent electoral process in which Adalvo Argolo was seeking re-election — which in fact happened on December 30th.

But then the CBSurf was again denied its certificate because “it was verified through the minutes of the Elective Assembly that the current president exercises the third term, violating the legal precept of alternation of power”, explained the Department of Sports, in a note.

The precept in question is in the provision of the Pelé Law, which stipulates that the same president can only hold two consecutive terms.

Argolo contested the secretariat’s understanding, arguing the following: since the provision that limits two consecutive terms of office only came into force in April 2014, the law could not be retroactive; the rule should now count only for elections after its application — this being, then, his second election.

This interpretation of the law was supported by other confederations and by the COB.

The secretariat, on the other hand, understood that all mandates should be considered, regardless of when the provision came into effect.

In 2021, the Court understood that the correct interpretation of the case was that of the confederations, which, in theory, would release the certificate to CBSurf.

The problem is that the December 2020 election was challenged by the opposition slate in another lawsuit and ended up being overturned.

In this process, the Court determined, among other things, that a new election be carried out, which should have a commission of athletes formed by six members.

The new election has not yet taken place, but this committee has already been elected, with a term of office until December 31, 2021. Unless its composition is changed, it must continue preventing a meeting to approve the entity’s accounts and regularize the confederation’s certificates .